


Scavengers

by faerierequiem



Series: Declan & Adam [1]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: M/M, also deciding to post up the adam/declan fics i've written before, ignore the sucky summary i'm too lazy to write up a proper one right now :P, their tag is way too barren RIP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 06:55:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21316033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faerierequiem/pseuds/faerierequiem
Summary: “Why are you trying to find it?” Adam asked.It occurred to Declan that Adam was an asker of questions that normally someone wouldn’t ask, questions that involved answers with details he didn’t want to share. He made sure to keep his expression passive, aware of Adam’s watchful gaze.“Sentimental reasons,” he said.
Relationships: Adam Parrish/Declan Lynch, Declan Lynch & Adam Parrish
Series: Declan & Adam [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1536694
Kudos: 28





	Scavengers

When church ended, Declan didn’t immediately leave for D.C. He knew he should—unless he wanted to arrive later than he normally did, but after saying good-bye to Matthew and nodding to Ronan, he had gotten in his car and driven into town.

Henrietta was nothing like D.C. D.C. was huge and sprawling buildings and busy whereas Henrietta was small and compacted shops and slowness. Declan wasn’t sure which place he liked more, but he knew he didn’t belong in either.

He parked in the small lot of a sandwich shop and entered, ordering himself a salami sandwich. As he waited, he wondered if he should just eat the sandwich on the road, but when the cashier handed him the sandwich, he took it and sat down in a booth.

The sandwich had its signature Henrietta greasiness. He was in the middle of his third bite when he heard someone call his name.

With the efficiency from years of practice, Declan swallowed the food in his mouth, cleared the tops of his front teeth with a quick skim of his tongue, and plastered on a smile, wide and inviting and a lie.

Adam Parrish stood there, a drink in one hand and a plate of steak and fries in the other.

Suddenly, the smile on Declan’s face felt awkward. He made it disappear with a cough into his fist. “Hello, Adam.” He glanced at Adam’s coveralls. “Lunch break?”

Adam nodded and sat down in front of him.

“How have you been?” Declan asked.

Adam shrugged. “The usual.”

“How’s school?” It occurred to Declan that that was a question adults had always been asking him when he was younger—and even now sometimes. He supposed asking about school was the mark of an adult, growing up, being old.

“Aglionby’s Aglionby.” Adam sipped at his drink and glanced out the glass window beside them.

Declan wondered how they must look to a passerby outside: A boy in his work clothes and a boy in his Sunday suit, both sharing a conversation and eating a meal saturated with fats.

“How’s college?” Adam asked, looking back at Declan.

Declan thought about it. College had been decent so far, but other than having moved to a new place, nothing else stuck out to him. “Definitely not Aglionby,” he finally said.

“I bet.” The side of Adam’s mouth quirked and he leaned forward as if he was about to share a scandalous secret. “Have you seen the president yet?” His voice was light, humorous.

Declan shook his head. “I’ve driven past the White House every day that I’ve been in D.C., but I haven’t been able to catch him yet. He’s very elusive.”

Adam nodded. “I heard he only comes out on Tuesdays when the sun is covered by a cloud at a 30-degree angle.”

Declan smiled. He realized how silly Adam was being, but they both were.

The rest of the conversation passed by seamlessly and they talked on a bit longer even after they had finished their food, but then Adam checked his watch. “It’s about time for me to get back.”

Declan looked at his own watch. It was nearly one. “Same,” he agreed.

Adam picked up his drink. “It was nice talking,” he said. He paused and then added, “The guys at the shop have been missing you. You should come visit sometime—but in jeans.”

Declan felt a prickle of embarrassment, recalling the first time he’d gone to the auto repair shop (in a suit no less). They had never let him forget it, even now it seemed.

“Sure,” he said. “Tell them I said hi.”

Adam nodded and Declan watched him leave.

On the 4 hour drive back to D.C., instead of the usual quietness, Declan sung along to the ‘80s station on the radio.

* * *

The next Sunday, Declan found himself back at the sandwich shop after service. He ordered himself a simple cup of coffee and eyed the shop, debating rather or not he should stay. It wasn’t as if he and Adam had decided to meet up again.

He stepped outside and stood near the door, gazing around at town. Henrietta definitely had a much different atmosphere than D.C. It was a nice break from the life he now found himself living, but he found it ironic that he was finding comfort in—of all things—the life he had been living previously.

“Declan!”

It was Adam.

“Hey!” Declan felt a rush of pleasant surprise.

Declan immediately noticed that Adam wasn’t wearing coveralls. Instead, he was dressed in jeans and a pale blue T-shirt.

“No work today?” He asked.

Adam shook his head.

There was a slight pause and then they both spoke.

“Are you going—?”

“Did you—?”

Declan took a sip of his coffee. This was getting off to a great start. “You first,” he said.

“Did you just finish eating?” Adam asked.

“Actually, I just came here to get this,” Declan said. He held up his cup of coffee. “Are you going to get something to eat?”

“No.” Adam’s accent slipped through in the quick answer. By the way his shoulders dipped, Declan could see how self-conscious he was of it.

“Are you busy?” Declan asked. He didn’t know what he was doing and he definitely didn’t have the time to do whatever it was, but Declan found himself asking anyways.

Adam shook his head and glanced up at Declan, quizzically.

“Cool.” Declan started for his car. “You can go on a scavenger hunt with me.”

* * *

“…So we’re trying to find a playground?”

Declan nodded. He tried not to notice how much Adam was marveling at the interior of his car. The Volvo looked good enough from the outside, but the inside was even better. Declan already knew this, but a newcomer’s appreciation was always welcomed.

“My father used to take me and my brothers, but then we stopped going,” he said. “I haven’t been back there since.”

“Have you already tried finding it?” Adam asked.

“Yeah, I tried once with Ashley, but she got bored and we couldn’t find it,” Declan said. He didn’t add about the many times he’d tried finding the place by himself. Those sorts of details were best kept to one’s self.

“Why are you trying to find it?” Adam asked.

It occurred to Declan that Adam was an asker of questions that normally someone wouldn’t ask, questions that involved answers with details he didn’t want to share. He made sure to keep his expression passive, aware of Adam’s watchful gaze.

“Sentimental reasons,” he said. It wasn’t a lie, but it was a casual enough answer.

As he continued to drive, Declan became increasingly and painfully aware of how much nearer he was getting to the plot of land that was the Barns. He wasn’t stupid. He had his suspicions that Ronan was going there and he knew could just as easily do it, too, but if the simple thought of going there was already enough to keep him away, he didn’t know how actually going there would be any different.

“It must be nice to get out of Henrietta,” Adam said.

Declan shrugged. “Do you want the truth or the sugarcoated version?”

Adam didn’t hesitate. “Truth.”

“Well, it doesn’t make much of a difference getting out to be honest,” Declan said. “New sights, new people, new things to do, but you’re still you and you’re still dragging around the same bullshit you’ve always been, so fundamentally, nothing’s really changed.” He paused, aware of the words he was going to say next. “This is going to sound like the sugarcoated version, but trust me, it’s not. I’ve begun to realize that the only place I really feel fine is when I’m at church with my brothers. Maybe that ‘home is where the heart is’ thing actually is right.”

Adam was quiet.

“Not the sort of answer you were expecting, huh?” Declan asked.

“No,” Adam admitted. “Not at all.”

“Yeah, I surprise myself, too,” Declan said.

* * *

They’d been searching for more than an hour.

Declan knew he should’ve accepted the fact that he would never find the playground a long time ago, but even now he still had hope and yet again he was being disappointed. Now that he thought back on it, the playground had clearly been a dream of his father’s and maybe it had gone when he died, but there still was that hope.

He was also afraid to admit that other than mountains and forests, he really didn’t know where the playground was located—and basing the search on mountains and forests would take days.

When he saw the time tick to 2, he was forced to accept that today wouldn’t be the day. Maybe there would never be a day.

He was about to open his mouth to say something, but was stopped short by the intent look Adam had on his face as he looked out the window, eyes focused and mouth pursed in concentration.

Declan raised an eyebrow in surprise. A search for a playground was silly, but yet Adam was still looking like that.

He cleared his throat. “I don’t think we’re going to find it.”

Adam’s eyes flickered over to him briefly. “Do you want to try again next Sunday?”

For a second, Declan was speechless. “Well— Okay. If you’re not busy. Then, yeah. Sure. We can try looking again.”

Adam straightened in his seat. “Hey, over there, on the right.” He started to point. “Is that it?”

Declan went still as he looked towards the direction Adam pointed at. His heart almost stopped beating. Through the trees, he could make out the shape of what was possibly a dragon. He nodded, his words falling out from him in a single breath. “Yes.”

He pulled the Volvo to a stop at the side of the road and they both got out of the car. Declan found himself leading the way with Adam falling into step behind him.

As he neared closer and closer to the playground, Declan began to wonder if he was dreaming, if any part of this moment was real.

It was. The playground had changed a lot since he’d last seen it. He didn’t know why he’d expected for it to stay the same. Time had changed it just like it’d done to him. The swings and slides and monkey-bars were still there, but they’d faded and lost their shine. People with spray cans had found the place and graffiti covered the surface of the dragon statue, black and red symbols and words. Its scales were no longer an emerald green, but a dusty light green and he had grown so much taller than it, but yet Declan still felt an immense fondness for it.

“This is it,” he whispered. Then louder, “You found it.”

With a cautious hand, Declan reached out a hand and laid it against one of the dragon’s wings. It was real, impossibly so. He realized with a start that somewhere in the back of himself he’d always been equating this dragon to his father and Ronan and their dreaming, but he’d been wrong. The dragon was a dream, but it was also as real as he was. He was the realest part of his family and that gave him all the power, because life called for reality, but he’d needed this reminder all along: That dreams could come true—_were_ true.

“Declan?”

At the sound of Adam’s voice, Declan drew his hand back from the dragon. He wondered how long he’d stood there, thinking to himself.

“You have a good eye, Adam,” he finally said. He ran his hand along the dragon’s wing and smiled to himself. “Thank you.”

* * *

It was closer to 3 than 2 when Declan dropped Adam off at St. Agnes.

Adam had begun to open the door of the car when he stopped and turned to say to Declan, “If Ronan saw this side of you, he would understand you so much more.”

Declan gave him a wry smile. “Too much damage has been done.”

Adam only looked at him, but before Declan could figure out what that look meant, Adam was getting out of the car.

Declan tapped at the wheel with his thumbs, deciding rather or not to ask. He leaned over just before Adam could close the door and asked, “So is this going to be a regularly scheduled Sunday meeting? Or should I skip the coffee next time?”

Adam leaned into the car. “Depends on if you want the coffee or not.”

Declan raised an eyebrow. “I’m always up for coffee.”

“Then until next time.” Adam gave him a salute and closed the door.

Declan waited until Adam entered the building before he started the car and drove off, grinning to himself and ready to hit the road.

**Author's Note:**

> If you tumblr, check out the fic here: https://cosmiqueqi.tumblr.com/post/110464277901/the-raven-cycle-scavengers ~ and reblog/like!
> 
> ( Also, if you want backstory on the playground, it's from a Declan-centric fic I've written that can be found here: https://cosmiqueqi.tumblr.com/post/85252334476/declan-lynch-flying-dragons )


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